In a world in which everyone is trying to win the branding game, each element of branding becomes crucial. The aspects of a logo like font, size, color, etc., which were often overlooked are now becoming the center of discussion. In this article, let us discuss the role of typography in a brand logo and how it can impact the brand’s identity and consumer behavior.
Importance of Typography
Many people feel that typography is just a matter of aesthetic decision but that is not the end of the story. Font style and font size give character to the brand logo and hence it shall be used as an efficient way to represent the brand’s identity and values.
Clarity & Communication: The art of typography is also important because its foremost purpose is to make the text readable and visually attractive. Additionally, it provides a way to present the brand’s personality and is core communication. It is even more important because a logo is a person’s first interaction with the brand most of the time. Hence, it is part of the first impression of the brand.
Recognition & Recall: A well-chosen typeface can improve the percentage of brand recognition and memorability of the brand name. Legacy brands like Coca-Cola, Google, and Cadbury can be easily recalled and be relevant solely based on their typography. A strong typography creates a strong emotional connection with the brand. They can often enable the audience to recall the brand solely based on font style, color theory, or design.
You will notice that Serif fonts like Georgia and Times New Roman are perceived as reliable and traditional while conveying a sense of authority. Vogue magazine and Time magazine use the Times New Roman font.
Readability & Legibility: Typography is not just limited to font style and size. To be part of the logo, the typeface shall pass many criteria. For instance, the typeface should be readable and legible in different sizes as well as across various media. This can be ensured by creating logo mock-ups with different media. Let’s say, a fashion brand’s logo should be scrutinized based on how it appears in each SKU category. Meanwhile, legibility refers to the ease of distinction of the individual characters. Poor legibility or readability can lead to confusion, misinterpretation, and potential alienation of your audience.
Distinctiveness & Differentiation: Another aspect of typography that is gaining attention now is its degree of uniqueness. With growing competition in the market, it is a thing of prime importance that brands opt for unique font styles. You should focus on using custom typefaces and unique fonts to stand out in the market. The uniqueness proactively gives the brand logo an advantage in its memorability and generates curiosity in people.
Consistency & Conflict: Once you have finalized a certain typography, it provides a certain brand consistency in terms of the use of typeface, font size, font color, and so on across all branding materials such as websites, products, business cards, and social media. Maintaining such consistency is compulsory for brands to build trust, familiarity, and loyalty. Ignoring such consistency will confuse the audience, degrade the recall for the brand, and can lead to a conflict of interest in the audience.
For instance, Serif fonts like Times New Roman, Courier New, and Georgia are often used by institutions, firms, and organizations to evoke a sense of reliability and authority. Meanwhile, Sans-Serif fonts like Epilogue, Work Sans, Poppins, etc., are used more by start-ups, tech-based companies, and brands that want to go for a minimalist aesthetic.
Now if a Financial institution uses Times New Roman in some places for their brand logo, and chooses Poppins font brand logo at other places, the audience will get confused about whether the logos belong to the same brand or not. It will also be difficult for the brand to attract and connect with the right type of audience. Such is the psychological impact of typography on brand logos.
Attention & Retention: A seasoned brand logo draws attention of the audience towards the brand. That is why brands go for a bold font for the brand name while taglines or any other product related information is written in lighter fonts. An additional advantage of such use of fonts is that it creates a visual hierarchy and highlights the elements of the logo according to importance.
If the typography is not relevant to the business, its brand message, and its primary target audience, then neither will the brand logo grab attention nor will it lead to retention. Let us take an example – Script fonts, inspired from cursive writing, convey elegance, vintage, and creativity. This is why they are popularly used in luxury brands, artisanal products, and related businesses.
Furthermore, the color palette used in typography can enhance the impact of the brand logo. Color theory is also the main factor in creating an emotional connection with the brand name. For example, Blue color is associated with a sense of security, loyalty and professionalism and thus it is used commonly in software, finance, banking, or any such related business.
How to Choose a Tailored Typography for Your Brand Logo?
It is impossible for you to have a foresight about which font to use in your brand logo without any careful consideration.
Understanding: The first and foremost requirement of creating a brand logo is to thoroughly know about your brand, inside-out. Only your clarity of the brand’s purpose, target audience, brand values, its character or personality, its mission and vision, and its core communication with its audience, can guide you to finalize the typography and color palette for your brand logo. This is because brand logo typography will set the foundation for all the typography in the future branding elements, as in all the branding efforts shall be complementary to the brand logo.
Creative Limitations: Some people can feel that a unique or creative log shall include multiple elements, or believe that complex fonts will be attractive and attention evoking. Such assumptions are futile. As we discussed, the primary purpose of logo typography is to facilitate its readability, legibility, memorability, and recall effect. Hence, a clear, direct, clean, and simple message and font is essential.
You should also avoid using multiple fonts in your brand name as this will destroy consistency of the typography. Furthermore, you should ensure that if you are using different fonts in the brand name and tagline, then it should complement each other. Your purpose is to generate interest in the audience, not to confuse them.
Tests & Criteria: As a brand owner, you must be ruthless when it comes to testing your brand logo typography across various criteria. One must ensure that logo typography is legible, readable, and impactful in various sizes, and across various relevant media like cards, posters, billboards, products, etc. You can prepare multiple logo mockups to see this in advance. Ensure if the typography is consistently attractive in both digital and print format, and also on various textures and backgrounds.
System of Feedback: Do not hesitate from testing multiple variations of your logo typography. You should create a system for generating feedback for your brand logo. It can be asking your peers and friends, doing a survey with your employees, or hiring a branding agency to take feedback from the market. With such an array of perspectives, you can ensure if your chosen logo typography generates the same impact across settings.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
1. What is the difference between a font and a typeface?
A typeface is a set of distinct styles of lettering while fonts are variations with a typeface. For example, ‘Roboto’ is a typeface while ‘Roboto black’, ‘Roboto thin’, or ‘Roboto bold’ are fonts.
2. Can I use free fonts?
Free fonts can come with some licensing restrictions. Hence, you should check the license agreement before using it for a logo.
3. Are custom fonts compulsory?
Custom fonts help create a unique identity for your brand which can give you a competitive advantage. However, it is not compulsory.
4. How to choose typography for multiple word-based logos?
Highlight the main brand name in a bold font while using a lighter weight for taglines. At the same time, avoid using multiple or non-complementing typefaces in the logo.
5. Can typography influence emotions?
Fonts, colors, and typefaces can together create an emotional memory for the audience. Hence, the typography should be in sync with the desired brand positioning.
Conclusion
Logo typography is a crucial component of the brand logo, being the first face of any brand communication. It is important to choose the right typeface, fonts and color palette to establish long term impact on the audience.